Interview with… Elena Vesnina

Elena Vesnina is currently playing in Tianjin, and few days ago, the Russian player has very kindly accepted to take some to answer my questions. After a really great 2013 season, 2014 and 2015 are a bit harder for Elena Vesnina in singles. On the other side her results in doubles continue to be really great. And as she says it in this interview, playing both singles and doubles is not something easy… But with a bit of confidence things could rapidly go her way again! And there is still some big events to come for the lovely Russian as she qualified for the WTA Finals in doubles for the 3rd year in a row with her partner Ekaterina Makarova, and that she will also be part of the Fed Cup final with the Russian team. Apart from her season, Elena Vesnina also talks here about her love for her sport and animals, her desire to learn French, what looks like a typical day of her life on the tour, and many other things 🙂

First of all, how do you judge your season so far ? I guess that’s not exactly what you expected in singles, but there is still some tournaments to come before the end of the season…
The season is going really hard for me. After my shoulder injury I thought I would start playing better a bit sooner, but it’s not easy. It takes a lot of time and of course confidence is important.

But in doubles you qualified for Singapore with Ekaterina Makarova and are at the moment the only team to have qualified for a second straight year, that’s a pretty good achievement, isn’t it ?
3 rd time in the row actually :)) We played the final in Istanbul and last year we qualified for Singapore. It’s amazing to be there at the end of the season with the best players of the world. It’s a beautiful city, an amazing venue with an amazing crowd.

Isn’t it too hard to try to be on top in singles and doubles at the same time ? It must take you a lot of energy…
Yes, you are right. It’s not easy, playing 2 matches a day, coming to other tournaments later, so you don’t really have the perfect preparation before that… But I really enjoy playing doubles and I am very happy that me and Ekaterina will have another chance to play in Singapore championship.

It’s a pretty exiting end of the season ahead of you with the Asian tour, Singapore and of course the Fed Cup final…
Oh yeah, end of the year will be very busy for us 🙂 But it’s great to be busy like that.

What looks like a typical day in Elena Vesnina’s life on the WTA tour ?
It starts with a good breakfast with oatmeal, fruits and cappuccino. Then, morning practice, lunch, nap, another practice, and if I am at home, dinner with my friends in some nice quite restaurant or movie time.

Maybe it’s not an easy question, and you still have many years ahead of you… but what are you the most proud of in your career so far ?
My 2 WTA singles titles in Hobart and Eastbourne, 2 Grand Slam titles with Ekaterina at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open and of course my 2 Fed cup titles with the Russian Team 🙂

I’ve seen you perfectly wrote in French on your Twitter and Instagram posts during the last Roland Garros… Do you speak French ? And if yes, where did you learn it ?
When I was working with Andrey Chesnokov, we are still working together when I am in Moscow, he speaks perfect French :))) I know only few words honestly, but it’s one of my goal to learn this language 🙂

After your tennis career is it something possible to see Elena Vesnina as a zoo veterinarian by example ? Or do you think you will stay in touch with tennis ?
It was my dream when I was a kid :)) I brought home a lot of birds, cats and etc :))) Now I am not sure about that, probably tennis will stay in my life for a very long time, I simply love this game, playing and watching.

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